


The secret life of Daphne Allen

by keepcalmanddonotblink



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Castiel as Emmanuel, Daphne - Freeform, Dean - Freeform, Emmanuel - Freeform, Fake Marriage, Fix-It, Friendship, Gen, Headcanon, Implied Destiel - Freeform, ex!hunter!Daphne, s7, what happened with Cas and Daphne before Dean found Cas in 7x17 until he finds him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-05
Updated: 2015-11-05
Packaged: 2018-04-30 04:20:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5150054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keepcalmanddonotblink/pseuds/keepcalmanddonotblink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The untold story of Daphne Allen. (Or the one where I try to fix some stuff that was bothering me for the longest time while still keeping it somehow canon.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The secret life of Daphne Allen

**Author's Note:**

> As always many thanks to my awesome beta [MashiarasDream](http://archiveofourown.org/users/MashiarasDream/pseuds/MashiarasDream). I love you <3

_September_

Another town, another life. Again. It is exhausting, but at least she is alive, she is still here and not god knows where. It is a small town and she is never sure if this is a good or bad thing. One thing is sure, she has to come up with a new identity soon, preferable with a new background story that has nothing to do with her former life. Or the one she pretended to have before that. Sometimes she even forgets what her real name is.  
Natalie Gardener is dead. So is Melody Smith and Amy Pond. She wonders how many lives she already has lived and how many more there will be. And everything because she loved. Or at least that is what she keeps telling herself.

She only arrived yesterday, rented the house the week before and as always when she is new to a town she is scouting out the surroundings. There is a forest near her house. A good place to hide and to be safe from the demons of the past. She wonders which name she will choose this time. Or if bouncingbabynames.com will decide that for her again. So many names have already been hers, she doesn't even care anymore which one she will take. A deep sigh leaves her as she takes a moment to close her eyes, to just stand there and listen. Only now she hears the sound of a river and without hesitation she makes her way into that direction. 

Later, when she was asked why she went down to the river, she'd answered that it was God who led her, because people who wanted to believe didn't question such a statement.

Truth is, she doesn't know why it seems suddenly so urgent to go that way, to be there in time, even when she doesn't know for what. A little out of breath she arrives at the river, only realizing now that she was running. She looks over the river and her heart skips a beat when she sees him. A dark-haired man, crawling out of the river, naked as far as she can tell. Without hesitation, she hurries to get to the stranger, although normally she would stay away from someone like that. Still something tells her, that he is not her enemy and that he needs her help. 

“Hey,” she says as the man looks up when he hears her footsteps. He looks tired and confused.  
“I... where am I?” he asks, his voice scruff, as he is looking around warily.  
“Colorado,” she answers, slowly offering her hand to help the stranger get up. 

He looks up and meets her eyes and for a moment she is taken aback. For a moment she believes she has seen the whole universe in those blue eyes. It only lasts a second and soon she thinks it must have been some kind of illusion. 

“Can you get up?” she asks instead and the man nods, slowly taking her hand and getting up.  
“Is that God's punishment?” he asks and she looks at him questioningly.  
“I don't know, but in case you haven't noticed, you are freezing, it is cold and you are not wearing a lot right now.”  
He nods, but there is still confusion written all over his face. His body is shaking, so she shrugs out of her jacket and gives it to him.  
He takes it with a small “Thank you”.  
“It's nothing,” she answers. This way he at least has something to wear. She gestures into the direction of her house: “Come on, you can tell me everything when we are inside and you are not freezing to death.”  
He just nods, still looking out of place and very lost.  
They start to walk to her house, she leads him and he is following, muttering to himself. Still, she catches a few words. 

_… is resurrection...my penance… death... I did that... hurt... Dean..._

Suddenly, there is silence, than she hears a dull thump. She turns around and there he lies, passed out and unconscious. Great.

***

“Hey,” she says again when the stranger finally opens his eyes again and smiles. “I am glad you are back, I was worried I might have to call a doctor and would have to explain how I found a naked man by the river...”, she says, trying to make it sound light, but even she can hear the heaviness in her voice.  
“You.. you found me?” he asks as he tries to sit up.  
“Easy there,” she says and helps him and then nods: “Yes, I found you. About 3 hours ago. Can't you remember?”  
There is it again, the confusion written all over his face and she can literally see his brain spinning as he seems to try to remember. But after a few minutes he sighs and shakes his head: “No... I.. I can't remember... I can't remember anything.”  
There is a slight panic in his voice and that is the last thing she needs right now. “Maybe you can tell me your name?”, she asks him. A name would be helpful. She could research where he came from, what he did to end up in a river in the first place and maybe she could find out what he is doing here.  
The man looks at her and searches her eyes, as if he might find the answers to his questions there. “No... I.. I don't remember my name... I.. who am I?” the stranger says, confusion and fear in his voice.  
“Relax, you are not your name, trust me on this..”, she answers: “Everything will be alright. We will figure something out. For now you need a name... and I know just the right place to look for it.” Coming up with names, that one is easy. That one she can do. Better than to deal with all the unsaid questions to which she might not get an answer at all.  
_Who is Dean?_  
Instead she says: “Just give me a minute...”  
She stands up to get her laptop and maybe it was a little too fast and a little bit too much, because there is again the pain in her ankle and a little cry escapes her mouth.  
“What is it?” the stranger asks worried.  
“It is nothing,” she waves it off: “I just sprained my ankle while carrying you to this house.” “I.. I am sorry...”, he answers clearly upset.  
“Look, it is nothing. It just needs a few days and I will be back at full function.”  
“May I see it?”, the stranger asks as if he hadn’t even heard what she said and she sighs. “Why?”, she asks confused: “Are you some kind of doctor?”  
He shrugs and then he smiles sadly: “I don't know. Maybe?”  
She huffs and gives in. “Okay,” she wants him to trust her, so maybe she can do this for him: “Though I have no idea what that should accomplish.”

She lets herself sink back into the seat by the bed, slips out of her slippers and shows her ankle to the stranger. For some reason she trusts him, like she would trust no one and like she has sworn to herself she would never trust anyone again. But something about him is different and she can't lay her finger on it. She feels it, some kind of energy, some kind of wavelength, something that seems not to be from this world. Maybe she should run for her life, maybe she is stupid and blinded and this is another trick, but right in this moment she wants to believe. If only for this small moment, she wants to believe that there is hope. 

“May I?”, he asks as he gestures to the swollen part of her ankle and she nods. Without hesitation he lays his hand on the part of her feet. “It must hurt,” he says and she huffs: “Only if I step on it because I forgot about it. It is okay. I can handle it, had worse.”  
“I wish I could help you,” is his answer and it sounds sad, so very sad. He closes his eyes, his hand still on the ankle as he adds: “I wish I could heal you.”  
That is when she sees it, a light flowing out of his hand, glowing, warm, comforting. A strange feeling washes over her body, a feeling of content and peace she can't remember she ever felt. As soon as it was there it is gone again and she blinks herself out of the moment.  
“What was that?”, she asks not sure what to think of it and the stranger looks at his hands and shakes his head: “I don't know. I don't know. Who... what am I?”  
She can hear the horror and fear in his voice again, so she lays a hand on his shoulder to calm him. “We’ll figure it out, okay. One step at a time. Now, let us figure out a name for you, okay?” He nods while still staring at his hands. 

Slowly she stands up, trying not to think too hard about what just happened. When it hits her. Her ankle. It doesn't hurt anymore. The small aching pain that was thrumming through her foot is gone. She looks back at the man in the guest bed, who is still turning his hands upside and downside, still trying to figure it out.  
“This is getting interesting,” she thinks to herself as she leaves the room.

***

“How about Noah? It's meaning is rest or comfort,” she asks with a sigh. Looking through bouncing babynames can be exhausting, especially if the one who should choose the name doesn’t like any of them and always wants to know the meaning of the name. If the meaning is not to his liking, it is also not a name he wants to take. She one the other hand, just took the first one that popped up randomly. Her new name is Daphne. She likes it.

The stranger shakes his head, though. If he was at least able to tell her what he is looking for in his name, but it seems he doesn't know for himself.  
“Okay, another no.... how.. how about … let's see... Emmanuel..? It means 'God is with us',” she says with little hope but the man perks up at this.  
“Emmanuel?” he asks and Daphne nods: “Emmanuel.”  
“I like that,” he says with a small smile.  
“Emmanuel it is than,” she says also smiling. It is good to have a name to address someone. “So, _Emmanuel_ , let's talk about how we are going to handle this whole thing,” she says as she puts the laptop aside. So many questions are on her mind, but it is good that at least one thing is settled.  
“You mean healing you?”, he says looking at her as if he can look right into her, right into her soul and see everything there. Every ugly hidden secret she’s buried there. She shivers but nods, trying not to give herself away: “Or how you ended up in that river in the first place. And whether you want to go to the police... maybe you are missing.... maybe _someone_ is missing you?”, Daphne asks and almost adds ' _like Dean_ '.

Later she would tell herself that she never mentioned Dean to Emmanuel, because she wanted to protect him. Because she wanted to make sure that he was safe, that this Dean was not the one he was running from. Though deep down, she knew that this was not true. At least not entirely. Maybe it was the part where she would have to go to the police, where she would have to put Emmanuel there and leave this town in the same hour.  
Or maybe she was too afraid to be alone again. 

Emmanuel takes his time to think it over, but then he shakes his head: “I don't know who I am, but I want to figure that out first, before I involve the authorities.”  
“I understand,” she answers and she does. Not knowing who you are can be confusing, terrifying even. She should know. It is hard to remember who you are when you are on the run. “So what do you want to do? Shall we do our own research? Because I can do that. Look out for missing person records and stuff like that,” Daphne says.  
“You would do that? Even when you don't know me?” he asks surprised and she huffs. “Yes, I would. And hey, you healed my ankle, so that is the least I can do.”  
Of course Emmanuel doesn't take that so lightly and looks again at his hands. “I did,” he whispers and Daphne feels a little like a jerk for bringing it up again like this.  
“Look, maybe you are one of those miracle healers, maybe you have a gift.” That is the best she can come up with right now, because what else could it be?  
“A gift?” he asks and sounds like a little child, asking for guidance. She can do that, too.  
“It doesn't have to be a bad thing, Emmanuel. You could help people.”

He looks up at her again and his face brightens. “I'd like that. I'd like to help others,” he says and she smiles back.  
So this is settled. There is one thing left, though. One thing that would make their cover so much easier and a pretty nice back story too. “That is good. We can work on that. And... well... I have another suggestion to you...”, Daphne starts a little unsure how to phrase this.  
“I’m listening,” Emmanuel urges her to go on and she nods, collecting her courage: “You know that you have no identity, well, besides being Emmanuel. And people will start to ask questions soon. I mean, I just moved here myself, so that is good, because we can alter a few things. The neighbours don't know me yet. Emmanuel, what would you say if we... if we fake-marry?”  
“Fake-marry?” he asks and tilts his head and somehow it is a gesture that makes him look like a little lost puppy.  
She almost laughs over herself, so stupid to think something like that right now. He is a stranger after all, a stranger who doesn't know himself. “I know... I know... it is maybe a little unorthodox, but it would help...” She almost says us, but catches herself fast enough: “... _you_. If you take my second name and we pretend to be husband and wife, people will not question us living together or why you are here and whatever we will do from here on.”  
“I see,” Emmanuel says: “That makes sense. What is your second name anyway?”  
Oh shit, is the first thing that comes to her mind. She hasn't thought about that one yet. She has to be fast before he figures out that something is not right here. She has to protect herself. She is thinking fast when here eyes catch a name written on the newspaper on the table. "Allen." It's good enough. “My full name is Daphne Allen.”  
Emmanuel nods and offers his hand and without thinking she takes it as he shakes her hand and says: “Nice to meet you, Daphne Allen. My name is Emmanuel Allen.”

***

The first few weeks they learn as much from each other as they can, making up stories. They make them up as Emmanuel discovers what he likes and dislikes. As he slowly learns more about himself.  
How they met: In a library. Emmanuel just discovered that he likes Vonnegut and helped Daphne when she couldn't find a book she wanted to read.  
Their first date: In a diner, where they ate Emmanuel's favourite dessert: apple pie.  
The proposal: On a walk in the forest, on a glade, where Emmanuel stood for over an hour and just watched the bees.

Slowly, their story comes together and they get to know the neighbours. Daphne plays the devoted housewife, who supports her gifted husband and works part-time at a supermarket. Whenever someone asks why she is not working full-time, she doesn’t have to lie. Whatever Emmanuel does, it is working. People get better, not matter if it is someone with a broken foot or someone with depression, for Emmanuel there seems to be no difference. They try to not make a big thing out of it, but word spreads, so there are always at least 2 or 3 people a day and they are all willing to donate some money in exchange for getting healed. Daphne takes care of that, Emmanuel doesn’t have to know about that part, because Daphne is pretty sure he would disapprove. On the other hand, they have to live of something and her income is too small for them both.  
Over time, they become something like friends. They trust each other. 

***  
_November_

It is one of those last sunny days before winter is about to come. They are walking home from the groceries store. They have developed a schedule by now, what to do on which day, who does the dishes (Emmanuel) and who vacuums the house (Daphne) and for any outsider they must look like a really happy couple. Not that Daphne thinks there could really be anything between them. She likes Emmanuel, that's for sure, but she doesn't love him. If anything, he is more like a lost brother to her that she never had and she is pretty sure that Emmanuel feels the same way. They are like family, just not the kind everyone thinks.

Emmanuel suddenly halts and looks at a women across the street. “That lady..”, he says: “..is different. There is something off about her.”  
“What do you mean?”, Daphne asks, trying to keep the fear out of her voice.  
“I don't know. I think she is not human,” Emmanuel answers with worry.  
“Like... like a demon or something?” Daphne keeps pushing, because for a moment she thinks that they found her, that they are after her. That it is over and she has to run again.  
But Emmanuel looks at her surprised: “Demon? Do you believe in such things?”  
Daphne of course doesn't tell Emmanuel that she _knows_ that demons exist, that the things you are afraid of in the dark are real. The less he knows about her former life, the less he knows about hunting and demons and all the other crap, the better. Instead she answers: “I don't know, I think there is more to the world as you see, that is all.”  
“So you believe in angels too?” he asks curiously and she almost laughs.  
She doesn't have to believe. She has seen too much to _believe_. If there is a God, he has left them a long time ago. He has certainly left _her_. “I don't know,” she says instead.  
“I do,” Emmanuel answers: “Believe in angels. And no, that lady doesn't look like a demon to me. If there is such a thing.”  
Whatever the lady is, she passes them seemingly without even noticing them. Daphne lets out a breath she was not aware she was holding.  
“Maybe you see more than normal people see?”, she finally says and Emmanuel nods: “That is possible, I guess.”  
“Well, maybe you are a miracle healer after all,” she teases him and he huffs: “Maybe. I just try to do what is right as long as I don't know what I did in my past. At least I can decide what to do with what is now.”  
“Wise words, Emmanuel, wise words,” Daphne answers and thinks to herself that she is lucky that she found him that day in the forest. With him she feels safe.

***

“Do you ever wonder where you have been before?” Daphne asks as they sit at home eating their meal.  
Emmanuel looks up and meets her eyes: “Where is this coming from?”  
She shrugs: “Just curious.”  
What she wants to say is 'Because I wonder what I have been before, before all this. Before I became what I am now, before I fell in love with the wrong person, before I, the hunter, became the hunted.'  
Emmanuel nods as if he understands that. “Sometimes,” he admits and looks at his hands again as if he is still in wonder how he can possible be able to heal people with a blink of the eye. “But on the other side, maybe there is a reason I am here now. I believe there is a purpose. I have to believe it,” he continues.  
And she gets it, she really does. She is looking for that silver lining, too. “I am sorry I still haven't figured out who you are. Or where you are from,” she says as she lays her hand over his and he smiles weakly.  
“It is okay. Whoever I was before, maybe I didn't want to be found. And maybe that means no one is missing me,” Emmanuel says.  
“I can't believe you would not be missed, Emmanuel. You are kind and funny and caring. If someone out there cares about you, they are looking,” Daphne disagrees.  
“I think it would be a good thing if no one was searching for me,” Emmanuel counters and Daphne raises her eyebrow: “How come?”  
“I mean, if no one is missing me, I left no one behind. I didn't just run away or broke someone’s heart. I don't know. I guess it just would easier to start new if there is no one to go back to,” Emmanuel says.  
' _Maybe Dean is looking for you_ ,' is probably what she should say, but after the last weeks she is not sure if she can do it. Bring up that name. Maybe Emmanuel would leave her behind, maybe she would have to begin again, somewhere new, somewhere different. Now that she finally has the feeling of home again, of family, of content. And she just can't do that. So instead she says: “You should not think so much about it. What did you say today? Let's do the best we can in these circumstances?” Daphne squeezes his hand reassuringly.  
“Yeah.. you are right. Let's do our best.” 

***

_December_

Daphne is on her way home. She can't believe that she has been living here for 3 months already and it is almost peaceful. It is like a life she thought she could never have again. A life without worries that someone will find her here, because they would not look for a Daphne Allen, wife of the loving Emmanuel Allen, best fake husband ever. Never asking about her past, never crossing any boundaries, always trying to do the best, always taking care, selflessly helping people, healing them, making them anew.

It is Christmas eve and Emmanuel even put up a Christmas tree, despite that she was against it at first. She can't remember when she had a real Christmas the last time, with a tree and decoration and even presents. Because she got one for Emmanuel, just saw it the other day and just had to get it. And of course she had to get some eggnog, too, because there is no real Christmas without eggnog.  
She opens the door to their home and the smell of apple and cinnamon hangs in the air.  
“I am home!”, she announces and puts her coat away as Emmanuel appears out of the kitchen.  
“Hey, make yourself comfortable, dinner is ready in a minute,” he says with a big smile.  
He likes cooking, especially hamburgers. Daphne has the feeling that he loved them in his former life.  
“I can't wait!” she answers and slips out of her shoes and walks to their living room. The tree is lovely, standing almost in the middle of the room, a lot of coloured Christmas decoration on it and even blinking light. Maybe it is a little overloaded, but she can see the effort behind it and she smiles when she sees the angel on the top of the tree.  
It is then that Emmanuel walks into the room with a casserole in his hand. “Do you like it?”, he asks.  
“I like it.”  
“Good,” Emmanuel nods and puts the casserole on the table. “Shall I bring the wine?” he asks politely and Daphne laughs: “Bring the wine, it is Christmas. Time to celebrate!”  
He laughs, too: “So you are finally in Christmas mood?”  
“It is hard not to be with you around. Who would have known that you are such a Christmas-freak?” she states and grins wide.  
“Oh, shut up. You know I don't even know if I am Christian or not. I could easily be a Buddhist and betray my own believes here,” Emmanuel deflects and Daphne rolls her eyes.  
“Come on, give me my wine so we can eat and give each other our presents.”  
“I knew you just want your present!” he says jokingly as he turns around to get the wine.  
“Right, I do!” she laughs. In front of strangers or their neighbours she would never act like that, like she does now. Never be herself like she can be in this room, like she can be behind these walls. Where she doesn't have to be a good housewife. She can't tell how much she loves this freedom. She only wishes this would never end.

***

_February_

There is a knock on the door and Daphne gets up to open it. A young man stands in front of her, brown hair, beard and in his middle-age.  
“What can I do for you?” she asks and he looks around, searching the room behind her. She knows it before he says it.  
“I am looking for Emmanuel,” he says and she nods.  
“Why don't you come in and tell me your story?” she says and gestures to the couch. The people who seek healing from Emmanuel were getting more and more every week, so they decided that everything should go via Daphne. It is some form of protection, too. She can brief them and Emmanuel will help them or their loved ones if he can. But first, she has to be sure. 5 months of something like a modest life, an apple-pie life. Each day that passes without anything happening makes her wonder if she can keep that kind of life just a little longer. 5 months. Normally she would leave a town after 6, but maybe, just maybe she will be able to stay for once. Stay with Emmanuel and have something like a normal life. 

It turns out the man's name is Mackey. His right eye is going blind and he tells her, that he needs it for his work.  
“What do you do for living, Mr. Mackey?” she asks curiously.  
“Hunting,” he answers and her heart skips a beat. In another life she would have answered that question with the same thing. It was always the closest to the truth. But he couldn't be that kind of hunter, couldn't he?  
“Hunting?”, she asks, trying not to give herself away and Mackey laughs: “Yes, deer and stuff. What can I say? It is a living. I hope you don't mind and you are not one of those animal rights activists.”  
“No.. I mean.. I am all for animal rights... but I don't judge. That is not my task,” Daphne answers.  
“Is it his?” Mackey asks and Daphne shakes her head.  
“It is God's,” she answers instead, because that is part of the show, isn't it?  
“So Emmanuel's doing is God's work?” he asks and there it is again, the underlining feeling of a hunter who asks questions to know more about the case. She shakes it off, there is no use in getting paranoid.  
“I like to think that, yes,” she answers instead, trying to act normal, act like the faithful good housewife she is for this act.  
“So, will he help me?” Mackey asks further and Daphne smiles.  
A hunter wouldn't ask that, would he? Not if he doesn’t really have a problem. Maybe she should tell Emmanuel to be careful, just in case. But she knows he will answer with his usual “I am always careful, Daphne.” She can already hear his annoyed voice. 

Mackey looks at her expectantly and she finally snaps out of it: “Well... I think I know enough. Emmanuel will visit you, if you could just leave your name, address and telephone number. He will call you next week.”  
Mackey's face lights up: “Really? That is great!”  
He looks so relieved and happy that Daphne is sure that he really is here to seek help and not to hunt anything down. Perhaps she sees her former life everywhere now, perhaps she _is_ getting paranoid.  
“It is always great to help someone,” she says with a smile and he shakes her hand a little too enthusiastically. But she had it all already. Crying, shouting, disbelief, thankfulness, a lot of questions. This is just another person that Emmanuel can help. How he does it is still a mystery, for both of them. She even looked into the lore and the only thing she could come up with was angels. And that is just too ridiculous to even consider. So she hasn't told Emmanuel about that either. Like she never told him what he had said to her when he came out of the river. Like the name she has heard when he was following her home. Like she never mentioned Dean. 

***

_March_

It is a sunny day and Emmanuel is out getting some groceries, since Daphne was feeling a little bit out of it this morning. Of course Emmanuel healed her instantly, but he insisted that she should rest nevertheless. What a great husband he would make, if they were really married. Maybe he has a wife out there, somewhere. But Daphne has decided months ago to not think about that too much. About the people who might be looking for Emmanuel. Even if they were looking, she couldn't find anyone matching his description on the missing persons’ list in Colorado and she is pretty sure that he couldn't be from somewhere else, since he wouldn't had survived long in that cold river without any clothes. How he ended up there in the first place is also a mystery she might never resolve.  
A knock on the door is forcing her out of her thoughts and she gets up to open it.

“What can I do for you?”, she asks as always and the grey haired man in front of her smiles hopefully: “I heard your husband Emmanuel can help me.”  
“It seems he can to a certain degree,” she answers as she opens the door fully to let the stranger in. For some reason she adds: “He can't grow back body parts, if that is what you are asking for.”, as the stranger walks into her house and she closes the door.  
“No, that is not what I wanted to ask about,” the stranger says and Daphne tenses up. Something about the tone in his voice is wrong and everything in her screams 'Run'. But it is too late. The stranger turns around and his eyes flash black.  
' _They found me_ ,' is all she thinks before he flicks her into the wall with a wave of his hand and the world goes dark.

When she wakes up again she is tied to the living room chair, her mouth covered by a strip so she can't scream. At least she is alive, that is more than she could hope for.  
“Oh, you are awake,” the demon mocks her and she curses herself. Why had she been so careless? She could at least have added some warding to the house. But she was afraid that Emmanuel would have found the sigils, would have asked questions. This life has grown on her. She doesn't want to lose it. But most likely it is too late for that now.  
“Don't worry, I won’t kill you... _yet_ ,” he says, interpreting her reaction completely wrong. But with her mouth tied she can't even exorcise him. This sucks. “I will wait until your beloved Emmanuel is here, and then he has to answer for his sins as he has to watch his beloved wife die,” the demon explains with a wicked grin and she wants to tell him 'Fuck you'.  
She wonders how easily she falls back to her hunter attitude in this situation, where other people would probably freak out. But she also notices that they are not looking for her, that the Demon obviously doesn't know _who_ she is. That they are looking for Emmanuel and not for her.

Before the Demon can say anything else there is a knock on the door. Daphne wants to scream, wants to warn whoever is out there. There doesn't have to be unnecessary death. Not when she thought she had escaped that kind of life.  
“Don't run away, love,” the Demon mocks her as he walks to the door.  
As soon he is out of her sight, she tries to free herself. Once upon a time those strips would have been no hurdles for her, but that seems to be a million years ago. Another life, one she lived so many lives before this one, this perfect, content one, where she wanted to believe that everything would be okay. That she would never have to run again.

She hears fighting, she hears someone falling. She feels sorry for the person that died over nothing. If she could only free herself. But then suddenly, there is Emmanuel in the room and relief washes over her. He is alright. There is a man coming in behind him, looking at them and Daphne wonders what has happened.  
“Daphne...”, with three steps Emmanuel is by her side and she nods. “That creature hurt you,” he states as he frees her from the scarf that kept her from screaming. Right. They are wife and husband and they have an audience. She can ask later what has happened.  
“I'm okay,” she says as he finally frees her hands, too. “But Emmanuel...,” she says, reaching for him: “They were looking for you.” Good one, this should convince everyone.  
“It's okay,” he answers, reassuring her, grounding her like he always does. Then he turns to the stranger and walks up to him and Daphne follows his lead.  
The man has light brown hair and green eyes and something about the way he looks at them is off. She can't tell what. ‘Can he see that this is just an act?’ she wonders when Emmanuel says to the stranger, holding out his hand: “I'm Emmanuel.”  
After a second’s hesitation the man takes the hand and shakes it: “Dean. I'm...Dean.”  
Dean.  
Daphne's head starts to spin. Could it be...?  
“Thank you for protecting my wife,” Emmanuel says and Dean answers awkwardly: “Your wife. Right.” Daphne tries to keep her act up and not to think about what this means. This Dean saved her? He killed that demon? “I saw his face. His _real_ face,” Emmanuel says with wonder, as if he can't get around the fact what he saw. Not that everyone is that calm when they meet their first demon. Daphne definitely wasn't. “He was a demon,” Dean explains and Daphne almost screams.  
A hunter. He is a hunter. His name is _Dean_.

_… is resurrection...my penance… death... I did that... hurt... Dean..._

“A demon walked the Earth,” Emmanuel states matter-of-factly and Dean corrects him: “Demons. Whackloads of them. You don't know about...?” He stops himself and Daphne is sure now. She sees it written all over his face. He knows Emmanuel or knew who he was before this, before she found him at the river.  
She turns to her pretend-husband with the only explanation she has for him seeing demons: “You saw the demon's true face,” and then she turns to Dean, trying to sound as casual as she can: “Emmanuel has very special gifts.” Good old Daphne, still keeping up the charade even when it is crumpling right under her feet. She was always good at this.  
“Yeah. I-I've heard that about...”, he hesitates before he continues: “...Emmanuel.”

If she hadn’t known it yet, this would have given it away. He knows his real name. He knows him. But there is more. More to it. The way he looks at Emmanuel, the way he tries so hard to keep it together. She would do the same for the person she loved.  
“That you can heal people up,” he ends that sentence and Emmanuel looks up, right at Dean and still it seems as if he can't remember him or even notices that there is something in the air. Maybe these are all the years Daphne has spent figuring out people, about how to act without drawing any attention on yourself. 

“I seem to be able to help to a certain degree,” Emmanuel repeats the words she had chosen before. They really had grown on each other in the last few months. It had been some really good months, she thinks.  
“What's your issue?” Emmanuel asks and Dean looks at him and at Daphne and she can read so many thinks in his face right here and then. She can hear the desperation in his voice when he answers: “My brother.” “Your brother?”, Emmanuel asks and looks around as if said brother should be somewhere here. “Sammy,” Dean says with a pained expression. “Where is he?”, Emmanuel asks and Dean sighs: “In a hospital in Northern Indiana.”

“Take me to him,” is all that Emmanuel says and right in this moment Daphne knows that it is over. That this is it. She has to leave this life. She has to leave Daphne Allen and Emmanuel Allen behind. Because Emmanuel found his real home, even when he doesn't know it yet. Eventually, Dean will break. Eventually, he will tell Emmanuel his real name, will tell him who he is. Eventually, Emmanuel will be happy, will see what Daphne can see in Dean's eyes. Someone who lost someone who is dear and found him again. Someone who loves.  
Dean leaves the room, waiting for Emmanuel in the living room.  
“Take care,” Daphne says to Emmanuel as he turns to her and this time she gives him a little kiss on the cheek as she thinks to herself 'Goodbye, Emmanuel.' “You too,” he says even if he looks a little confused over her show of affection. She smiles: “I always do, Emmanuel. You know me.”  
“I will call you as soon as I know when I will come home again,” he says and Daphne knows that he will never call and that he is not to blame for that.  
“You are a good man, Emmanuel,” she states and he smiles: “You are a good woman, Daphne.” With that he leaves the room, Dean leading him out of the house into a new life that might be his old one, might be a different one. One where he is truly loved.  
After all, someone was missing Emmanuel.

As soon as they are gone, Daphne starts packing, collecting everything she needs from this life for the next one. The only thing that she ends up packing that connects to this life is the Christmas present Emmanuel gave her, a little angel bracelet. Before she leaves this house for the last time she writes a little note to Emmanuel, just in case he might really return. She doesn't want him to worry. She wants him to be happy, as Emmanuel or whoever he is. 

Sitting in her car, she looks back at the house one more time and says her inner goodbyes. To a good life, to a life she always wanted and never quite had, to a fake husband and a cosy home. Then she turns around and never looks back as she makes her way down the road.

***

_  
Dear Emmanuel,_

_I am sorry we never had the chance to say goodbye, but I am thankful for the days we had._  
_Don't look for me, I am one of these people that don't want to be found. We all run from different things, but I think you should not run any longer. I should have told you.  
_ _That day I found you, I heard you say one name. It was Dean. So if he let you go without telling you anything, I think you should know that he has the key to your past. And that I could see how much he cares about you._

_Have a wonderful life,  
Daphne_


End file.
